SANTA ANA – A college student whose father and sister were beaten, stabbed and set on fire in 2007 testified Tuesday that she had a contentious two-year, on-again, off-again romantic relationship with a West Hollywood man who was later accused of murdering her family after she broke up with him a final time in March 2007.

Shayona Dhanak, 22, told a Superior Court jury here that she dated Iftekhar Murtaza, now 25, despite her parent's objections, and even though he was often violent, possessive, manipulative and suffocating. She said Murtaza punched out two of her male friends, once threw her down on a bed, and would frequently show up at parties uninvited because he knew she would be there.

She was called to the witness stand in an 11th floor courtroom Tuesday to testify in the murder trial of Vitaliy Krasnoperov, 25, of West Hollywood, who was a close friend of Murtaza's and is charged with aiding and abetting Murtaza in a plot to kill members of Shayona Dhanak's family so she would return to him. Krasnoperov faces a potential life term in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.

Murtaza, who was recently given a new court-appointed lawyer, will likely go on trial next year. He faces a possible death sentence if convicted.

Charles Anthony Murphy Jr., of Mission Hills, a third co-defendant, is scheduled for trial later this year for his suspected role in the May 22, 2007, murders of Jayprakash Dhanak, 56, and Karishma Dhanak, 20, and the attempted murder of Shayona's mother, Leela Dhanak, 53.

Deputy District Attorney Howard Gundy contends that Krasnoperov helped Murtaza plan the killings, and Murphy helped him carry them out.

Shayona Dhanak, then 18, was living in the dorms as a freshman at UC Irvine, when two intruders entered her family's home in Anaheim Hills around 11 p.m. on May 21, 2007. The victims were beaten and stabbed and the home set on fire before the men fled in a van with Jayprakash and Karishma Dhanak.

Anaheim police officers responding to the fire found Leela Dhanak unconscious on a neighbor's lawn. She recovered after three weeks in a coma and identified Murtaza as one the attackers.

Shayona Dhanak testified Tuesday that her parents did not like Murtaza in part because they were devout Hindus and he was a Muslim, but also because "they didn't like the vibes he gave out" and because they felt he didn't look like an honest man.

"They weren't happy" that she continued dating Murtaza, she testified, and they encouraged her to break up with him. She said she attempted to do so on two occasions, but Murtaza would cry, apologize and beg her to stay with him, and even offered to convert to Hinduism.

Dhanak said she broke up with Murtaza for good on March 28, 2007, as they sat in his car.

Gundy told the jury in his opening statements last week that within a day of that breakup, Murtaza in a late-night instant message told Krasnoperov that he wanted to kill Dhanak's parents.

About a month later, Gundy said the planning continued with Krasnoperov asking for photos of Dhanak's family. Shayona Dhanak said she emailed several photos of her family to Murtaza in April 2007 at his request.

Defense attorney Brent Romney told the jury that Krasnoperov had no motive to help kill two people he didn't know and in the instant message conversations he was trying to defuse the anger and animosity Murtaza was feeling.

Krasnoperov had no contact with Murtaza in the week to 10 days leading up to the killings, Romney said, and never entered into an agreement with Murtaza to take lives

"He's a 21-year-old old goofball," Romney said, "He's not a violent person."

Iftekhar Murtaza booking photo COURTESY OF ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Iftekhar Murtaza and Shayona Dhanak, before their breakup in 2006 HANDOUT
Defense attorney Brent Romney listens to the prosecution's case against his client Vitaliy Krasnoperov, 25, at right, in Santa Ana on April 20. Krasnoperov is charged with two felony counts of special circumstances murder as well as other charges. JEBB HARRIS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Vitaliy Krasnoperov, 25, sits in Orange County Superior court on April S0, 2011 where opening statements were presented in the trial in which he is charged with two felony counts of special circumstances murder. The charges result from his alleged role in a revenge-murder and attempted murder conspiracy targeting the Anaheim Hills Dhanak family. JEBB HARRIS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Deputy District Attorney Howard Gundy tells a jury how computer forensic techniques were used to recover a chat transcript implicating Vitaliy Krasnoperov in a murder conspiracy during opening statements in Santa Ana on April 20. JEBB HARRIS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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